15/04/2014 - Prospects for Turkey-EU Relations

She emphasized that although Turkey’s EU membership is currently not on either Turkish or EU agenda, efforts should be made to revitalize the relations. She traced the history of Turkey-EU relations to the 1960s and focused on significant stages, which formed the “special partnership” between the two entities. Dr. Zihnio?lu argued that the current state of affairs hurts Turkish economy and she illustrated it on the example of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), among others. The TTIP, established between the EU and the US to facilitate free trade and alleviate the consequences of the global financial crisis, actually damages Turkish economic interests since Turkey, as a non-member, is not allowed to negotiate equal economic opportunities. Participants of the round-table further discussed the incentives that could be made to change the perception of Turkey in the EU as well as strategies that could make EU look more credible in the eyes of Turkish citizens.

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